


The Lady

by QueenPotatos



Series: A Message in a Bottle [2]
Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M, Fairy talish, M/M, Ocean AU, Save Hashirama 2k16
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-20
Updated: 2017-01-15
Packaged: 2018-08-23 16:06:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,740
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8333884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenPotatos/pseuds/QueenPotatos
Summary: Mito had grown up in a gilded cage, locked from the outside world. Hashirama was the one who opened her eyes to the World. But in one night she lost her future fiancé as well as her only friend, Izuna Uchiha. Five years later after she'd started her new life news from Hashirama resurfaced again. Who better than her, and through a fortunate chain of circumstances, her best friend's brother Madara, could save Hashirama from his prison?Through her journey Mito would find out soon that there were a lot of things she didn't see from her Island, things she could never have guessed...This is the 2nd part of the Message in a Bottle story.





	1. I

**Author's Note:**

> This is the 2nd part of the Message in a Bottle story. This is from Mito POV. You'll see her story and the main one through her eyes. You'll see there are some scenes you've already read but there won't be any repeat.

# The Lady - I

 

 

 

The room was dark. It was only late afternoon but the sky outside was full of clouds, so much that the sun rays couldn't make it through the tight windows of the sanctuary's principal room. The girl was knelt in front of the cold, marbled table, listening to another tale that was coming out of the adorable little boy's mouth.  

  

"And what happened to the baby dolphin after that?" Made a very soft voice.  

  

"He was returned to his mommy! The mermaid helped him, and then she came back and told me everything!"  

  

"How interesting Izuna. You always have fantastic stories to share with us."  

  

"The Ocean is full of stories. It's just that humans can't hear them."  

  

The boy was playing innocently on her mother's knees with a wooden top. It was raw and badly shaped, and the painting was clumsy too – even at the age of five, Mito could have done better – but it seemed that the little object was what he cherished the most.  

  

"Nii-san made it" He told her, and she realized she had been staring at it for a little bit longer than she should have. Mito quickly returned to her previous activities and gazed at the table that was in front her, more precisely at the untouched piece of parchment peacefully resting on top of it. She opened a black painting bottle and resumed to what she was ought to do - inking. Her mother had taught her how to. And now at only 13 years old she was in charge of reproducing the Scriptures. It was boring; everything was boring here at the sanctuary for such a young girl; everything except from Izuna's stories. It was maybe scatterbrained but at least, it wasn't nothing. It wasn't silence.  

  

"Sweet boy, it seems your brother is here to pick you up."  

  

"Nii san!"  

  

He jumped straight away and quickly ran towards the entrance. Before she even knew they were there the two Uchiha brothers had disappeared and silence was back. Again.  

  

Mito Uzumaki had lived within the sanctuary walls all her life. She wasn't allowed to go outside, to walk on the beach, to play with other kids – Izuna being the sole exception, because he was _special_ too – and the only lie her parents had found to argument their sweet sequestration was that it was for her own safety. Just because one fateful day, she'd had a vision and she had passed out on the beach and nearly died.  

  

She found this extreme solution very unfair. They have ever asked for her own opinion. It wasn't because she was jailed in her own home that she couldn't see things happening - when she was touching object, people; it had never stopped to occur, and she had never been in danger again. All she had ever done was inking and praying with her mother. When she used to be younger she would play hide and seek with the old granny, but now that she knew the sanctuary like the back of her hand it had become boring too. Most of the time she would be sitting in front of the great fountain, at the very end of the hall, just simply sitting there and listening to the sound of water hitting water underneath. She loved that sound. In fact, Mito just loved any _sound_. And so, she started to love the fountain and the woman figure it represented.  

  

It was supposed to be Lady Ocean, Goddess of the salty water, the one they were praying for every day. To have mercy upon men, to have mercy upon boats, to have mercy upon the weather and their fishing; that's all they spent their time doing, the adults. She had no face, or maybe just a quick outline of the form of her nose, her eye contour, high cheekbones. Her torso was barely covered with some kind of cloth that looked like water itself and she was holding a giant vase on her right shoulder – that's where the water was coming from. The water trickle was falling down on the basin endlessly, and Mito often wondered where the water came in first place – from the vase or from the basin? Her mother had once told her it came from widows' tears after a murderous storm. But the Goddess Mito was looking at wasn't crying. It didn't make any sense.  

 

Her eyes were always full of adoration when she was staring at the fountain. It made her mother happy; she certainly thought she would be a great believer, but she was mistaken on the object of her adoration. It was her favorite place, by far, in the sanctuary. As it was near the entrance, Mito could hear people walking by, greeting each other, the sound of their shoes hitting the stone as they took them off and threw them next to the door, ruffing clothes, gulls flying outside; everything suddenly felt so alive in the hall.  

 

And then one day, he came in, with his older brother. Izuna Uchiha. Her mother told her later that it was because he was said to have saved a lost mermaid. She was only nine years old and had never left the sanctuary so of course, she had believed it.  

 

He came back a few more times during the year. She had always found him a little bit…special. That was the best adjective she could ever found.  

  

"It looks like you really like to be here." She was ten when he finally talked to her. As usual when she wasn't executing her duties or any chores her mother assigned her to do, she was contemplating Lady Ocean's statue. "My name is Izuna. You can call me Izuna."  

 

His words were peculiar but after all, he didn't look any older than seven years old. Sometimes, kids used weird ways of talking, just because they weren't used to have a normal conversation. How could they possibly learn about proper language if nobody was talking the time to teach them how to?  

 

"My name is Uzumaki Mito."  

 

"I know who you are. She told me." She looked at him bewilderingly and he showed her the statue behind her with his tiny finger. He really was special in his own way. She said nothing in return – what could she say after what he had done anyway? – and got her eyes back on the water flows.  

  

"Nii-san says that, in a lot and lot of years, the water will have transformed everything into sand." He added out of the blue. It seemed the little boy wanted to talk. Mito wasn't really against the idea. He was a bit strange but at least, he was definitely not boring.  

  

"How does he know that?" She asked him. She knew she was going to be told so anyway but her mother had taught her how to be polite – ' _Let_ _them_ _think_ _that_ _you_ _care about_ _what_ _they_ _said_ '.  

  

"Because it's Nii-san. Nii-san knows everything when it comes to the Ocean. He is so good at sailing, it's like the waves are his own boat." The kid sat beside her and looked at the vase – well, she guessed more than knew, she didn't feel comfortable enough to stare at him – before talking to her again, with a more evasive tone. "How much time do you think it will take for the water to turn the fountain into sand?"  

  

"I don't know. A lot and lot of time." She answered honestly, to her own surprised – as if she could take this conversation seriously. There was no way the sanctuary could melt with the beach he was built on one day.  

  

"Do you think it will be done before the Ocean turned the Lands into sand?" She turned her head towards him. He sounded so sad and…bitter. She knew so little about the Lands at that very moment, only from fairy tales and when she sometimes overheard an adults' conversation in the corridor, or in the hall.  

  

"Do you want the Lands to disappear?"  

  

The little boy nodded.  

  

"Why?"  

  

She never thought this innocent looking boy could have such obscure thoughts.  

  

"If the Lands stay that way, there wouldn't be any men left in a lot and lot of years. Then nobody could see if the Ocean really turns everything into sand. Nii-san will be sad if it doesn't."  

  

Mito would always remember that day. Because it was the first time someone talked to her about the war. And it had to be a seven years old kid.  

  

"My brother died today. He was fighting on a boat with Father and Nii-san. When they came back Father told me the waves had taken him away from us, but Nii-san was there, he told me the truth. He told me he was killed by a man's pistol, and that I should never trust men. ' _Never_ _ever_ _again_ ', he said."  

  

Her mother silhouette appeared in the corner of their eyes right after that. She didn't have to say anything, she rarely used her voice – only when it was necessary – and she didn't need to, because it was time to pray and Mito knew that.  

  

"What are you praying for?" She heard Izuna asked, before her mother took her away from her own sanctuary. She couldn't answer him, not because she was being dragged away from him but because she realized she had no idea. She would have wanted to pray for his lost brother, but there was nothing the Ocean could do about it anymore, it was already too late.  

  

The first time she had properly met Izuna he had left her speechless; for someone who hated silence more than death itself, she had found it quite ironic.  

  

Mito didn't really know why she had thought of that particular memory, as she was inking in silence – while her mother was embroidering on her seat. It had always bothered her, not knowing how to answer to this kid. His ask was pure, innocent, like the child he still was; but at the same time it had raised a lot in Mito's heart, in her head. She had started to think about all this, about the purpose of their secluded lifestyle, and soon she had begun to ask questions too. She was being curious and she found out that, being curious wasn't boring at all.   

  

She had read a lot, not only fairy tales but also adults' book – she liked to call them that way, because she felt like she was growing up faster – but all the knowledge she had gathered, even if it had made her incredibly happy in the first place, had left an incredible sour taste in her mouth.  

  

Now that she knew, she couldn't stay still. She had to do something. But her parents never let her go outside the sanctuary walls. She felt that she could probably help and do something – at least, her eleven years old self thought she could – and yet she was unable to act.  

 

And from that time, she came to hate her mother.  

 

Because she was never speaking. Because she was forbidding her to go outside. Because she was a stupid, dumb and fanatic priestess that did nothing but praying and embroidering and painting and all those things were done in a perfect silence except for her breathing and it was making young Mito mad.  

  

She was holding her pencil too tight – again, she was getting angry over nothing. Her strokes were too clumsy and rigid. She'd had to do it again.  

  

Suddenly, she felt her mother's hand on her shoulder. She had move without a sound, as always, and had managed to surprise her – the ink pot almost got spread all over the table. That would have been a real disaster.  

  

It was time for prayer.  

  

She had changed lately. She had grown up, nearly 20 cm in a year, and her silhouette was starting to be more feminine – she knew she was going to bleed soon, maybe in a month or maybe two, nobody could tell but she just felt it coming – and Mito had more than once found herself quite…insolent, to say the least. Provocative. With no real success so far, but she was as stubborn as her father.  

  

"What's the matter, mother?"  

  

Her mother just joined her hand in front of her forehead. The first time her only daughter had _dared_ to ask her this question, she had looked so chocked, so stunned and confused, that she had gone to the praying room alone. Mito had joined her later – she wasn't someone that would skip on duty just because of some conflict with her relatives – and from that time, they had continued this little charade without saying a word.  

  

Surprisingly, Mito loved to pray. She liked the praying chamber very much. It was colored, not gray and white and black and woody like the rest of the sanctuary. There were tapestries, with jewels and golden silk that were telling the story of their island, of the Ocean, of the Goddess, and of their ancestors. There were a lot of treasure, that were supposed to belong to mermaids or even Lady Ocean itself, and a human-sized representation of the Goddess in the very center of the room. It was small, it was warm, it felt comfortable. Mito was always feeling secured when she was knelt in front of the statue, even if she was touching her mother's knee with her own – she never thought about that, because there was another feeling, a warm feeling coming from inside, from her guts or from her heart, that was making anything else irrelevant to her awareness.  

  

But that day, there was also that little boy's voice, resonating inside her head, and it made her feel sick.  

  

"Mother, what are we praying for?"  

  

The same question had hunted her thoughts for so long. She had to take it out of her mind, for good.  

  

"For the Ocean to have mercy upon our men, and upon our ships, sweetheart, like always" She told her.  

And so they prayed, and she thought about Izuna's brother, and Mito wondered why they couldn't ask for men to have mercy upon themselves instead.  

  

* * *

 

  

The first time she had seen Hashirama she was twelve, her birthday coming in only a month. It was weird, because that week nothing had been going as usual. For the first time in ages, the sanctuary had host guests from the Lands. The Senju family had asked for hospitality and for a cure to save their oldest child. He had been hit by the Ocean's fever. The poor guy, Mito thought immediately, that was a deadly curse that couldn't be cured.  

 

And still, the teenager – he was seventeen at that time – was just hanging around and curiously studying every single room of the sanctuary, looking carefully at every single stone and windows, and his younger brother was following him, sighing and pouting. Maybe he didn't want to be here, maybe he had been asked too, like Mito was asked to ink.  

 

The people on the Lands were strange: Mito was part of the Uzumaki clan, and bore magnificent ginger hair just like every single one of her relatives; Izuna was the spitting image of his older brother who she never remembered the name of but those two were nothing alike. Hashirama was tall, his skin tanned, had long and black hair and a disarming smile. He was, undoubtedly, the most stunning creature the Goddess had ever created. Mito was sure not used to see boys of her age but she wasn't blind, and she had read a lot of things about…love. The heat on her cheeks, the hit of her heart on her ribcage, the speed of her pulse; she had learned of these sings and knew their meaning too well.  

 

On the other hand there was Tobirama, the younger brother, with short white hair and red eyes, scars on his face and his serious attitude. It was as if he wore the weight of the world on his shoulders, never laughing, never smiling. The contrast between them two was disturbing, but there was no doubt about their bonds. If Hashirama looked exactly like his father, Tobirama had inherited of his personality. They had exactly the same antics, crossing their arms in front of their chest every time they tried to catch the attention.  

  

Hashirama was different. She didn't know why, but that was what her heart was telling her, and she chose to listen to it for once.  

 

That day, as she was hiding behind a pillar, spying on them, he caught her staring. They locked their gaze for what seemed to be an eternity for her, and then he smiled, and waved at her.  

 

She felt her stomach climbing up to her throat and ran away.  

  

* * *

 

  

On her fourteenth year Mito realized, a little bit too late, that what she had felt for her mother all along wasn't hate, but an entire different feeling. She couldn't call it love either, even if she did love her – just like every child love his parents – but the way her mother had shown her love towards her had…frustrated her. She wasn't the mother she would have dreamed of, but you only have one mom. That's what she'd learned the day they had drowned her corpse.  

 

Her father said she was being returned to the Goddess. They had put her cold body on an old small boat pierced with very tiny holes, so that it would drown slowly, so that every single person living in the area had time to say their last goodbyes.  

 

Mito came first with her father, and then she came back last, when the sun was going down to disappear behind the Ocean's endless horizon. Her mother head was comfortably laying on one of their cushion, a bright red one, and she wondered why they had gone through all that trouble. She was dead. She couldn't feel anything, her mind was gone; it's not as if she could care about some details like this anymore.  

 

The salty water had reached half of her body by the time she came back. Only her pale face was untouched, lifted by the velvet cushion underneath. She looked so peaceful; it was as if she was sleeping. She had always looked sick, now that Mito was thinking about it. Pale, silent, walking slowly; she had always thought her mother was weak but maybe she had been wrong, maybe she got everything wrong, from the very beginning.  

 

She was wearing her necklace, a very thin and refined silver chain and an oval pendant. She wouldn't need it where she was going, and Mito took it off of her mother's neck. She looked at it closer and realized it was actually a locket. There were two small pictures graved inside : the first one was very old, representing a couple; the man had a great mustache and the woman standing next to him a serious face, with freckles and long red hair. Certainly her grand-parents. The other picture was the one of a small girl. The same read hair, the same freckles, and with a smiling face a mouth full of chocolate.  

 

It took her some time to realize it was her own face she was staring at. And all the lost memories of that day came back all at once.  

 

It was during a stormy day, Mito was watching the lightning from inside her room, her windows wide open and her mother had come quickly. She had told her it was dangerous, that she could get hurt and the next moment they were together, baking in the kitchen. They had made tens of small cakes, some muffins and some cookies too. It was just before she had collapsed on the beach, before she had her very first vision, before her mother had started to act so strangely around her.  

 

The only thing she could remember as if it was only yesterday was her mother's laugh. It was the first and last time she had heard it, a bright and joyful laugh; a sound that had been forgotten and crushed by years of silence and cold behavior. Mito had been too young to remember what they used to be, but not her mother.  

 

One, two drops felt from her face and melt with the water filling her mother's tomb. Her eyes were burning at the memory. She had blamed her mother for so long when she had been the one who had forgotten. Why? Why the silence? Why hadn't she said anything? Why hadn't she told her how wrong she was?  

 

She was so angry. There were tears of anger, against her mother and against herself. How dared she leave her alone? Alone and lost on the wrong road, with absolutely no indication of what to do with her life anymore.  

 

Why did she have to go before Mito finally realized that they have misunderstood each other so much during the years, and have longed for the same reaction from the other without voicing it?  

 

"Goodbye…" She held the locket tight on her grip and slowly pushed the boat towards the Ocean, where she now belonged. She stood half emerged on the water until her mother last ship sank and disappeared forever.  

 

She had stopped crying. She had to grow up.  

  

* * *

 

  

She quickly became a teacher for the new priestesses. She was very young but she had that special ability, and she was and still would be the daughter of a high priestess and of the Uzumaki's head. Other girls, after puberty eventually hit them, started to hate her for that, for being privileged, cosseted and preserved. Since her mother died, she had had more and more visions, of war, of dead bodies, of two men fighting and screaming and of Hashirama Senju. Every time she collapsed Old Granny was here to catch her, and gave her the first aid. And every time she woke up, she could hear them whispering, plotting against her back, saying really harsh things against her just because she was a favorite. And Mito found herself wishing her holy silence was back. She had no idea words could hurt so much.  

  

Hopefully for her sanity she still had Izuna's stories.  

  

He was only talking about his older brother – well, his only brother left unfortunately – and about mermaids as usual, but Mito figured out long ago that she would rather deal with that fairy-tales-like stories than with gossips. She liked his little world. She felt safe there, just as in the prayer chamber. The outside world was scary, the Ocean was dangerous, the Lands were full of dead bodies and her mother wasn't there to protect her anymore. She'd rather stay here, on the Sanctuary all her life than risking her life alone in the unknown.  

 

"But you should see the Ocean's beauty! Come with me tomorrow morning! We'll see the sunshine together! You will never be scared again, I promise!"  

 

He wasn't a little boy anymore. He had grown up, just like his precious Nii san, and had nearly hit his adult height. He was 13 and she was 15, and that morning he was holding her hand and dragging her outside, _Outside_ , for the very first time of her life. Her bare feet were walking on the cool sand and this only sensation felt amazing.  

 

He was laughing, carefree, as if everything was just a dream : the war, the wind, the cold, he who had seen his own family died before his young eyes and who had revenged them was running on the beach with her. He had made a promise for better tomorrows for her, and she would have given him anything for his wish to come true.  

 

Or for being able to be happy like him, even if it was just for one day.  

 

As if the Lady Ocean had heard her prayers, Hashirama's ship appeared on the horizon that very morning.  

 

And six month later they were engaged.  

 

* * *

 

  

"I don't understand."  

  

"I don't understand either. Why would we fight with our neighbors? They give us food and wool. We're living thanks to each other."  

  

"And what are you giving to them, in return?"  

  

"We protect them from the storms. The other people living in the island are fisherman too. My clan makes clothes from the wool and some of us are writing parchments. It's all about trade. I have never seen what you call " _money_ " or " _gold_ " or " _coins_ " here, only heard of them, when I was in the hall."  

  

"Woa…" Hashirama was speechless, and watching her intensely. "That's unbelievable. You are unbelievable."  

  

The whole situation was unbelievable, if you would ask for Mito's opinion. Here they were, in her own room, talking and talking, never stopping, about political matters and little nothings, and there wasn't any awkward silence, or short pauses that made her felt uneasy. On the contrary, every single word she talked came out fluently, without any trace of hesitation or of stuttering. Everything she had read all this time was finally worth it, because at that very moment she was sharing her thoughts and knowledge, communicating with another human being that was at least as curious as her and she loved that.  

 

She loved him, so much, he probably had no idea.  

 

The fact that he was very, very handsome kind of helped, a bit.  

 

No, wait, he wasn't just very handsome. He was gorgeous. So much she wanted to swear. Like, Hashirama Senju was fucking gorgeous and he was fucking smart and gentle and wanted nothing but to stop the war and help orphans all around the world and he was having a chat with _her_ _and no one_ _else_ _but_ _her_ _._   

 

When she talked about him with Izuna, he would often laugh, and said something in the lines of ' _Nii_ _san_ _would_ _certainly_ _said_ _that_ _he_ _looks_ _like_ _the_ _perfect_ _kind_ _of_ _person_ _who_ _you_ _can't_ _help but_ _hate_ ', and she agreed somehow. Hashirama was flawless, in her eyes anyway.  

  

"I really want to come here more often." He told her, before leaving on his boat with his younger brother who was always sailing with him – well, maybe he wasn't as flawless as she had thought in the first place, the man had a terrible seasickness – and this promise resonated with the one Izuna had made to her the day before, the day she had dared to break the wall she had built around her after her mother's death.  

 

Suddenly she felt the cold air entered her lungs; it was painful, but it felt alive.  

 

She sighed, and then she knew how it felt to be in love with someone.  

 

It was as if she had died and was reborn as a total new being. Every part of her skin was burning with anticipation and, maybe for the very first time Mito realized she was looking for something.  

  

Life had a new meaning. Finally.  

 

* * *

 

  

_Dear_ _Mito,_   

_I_ _won't_ _be_ _able to_ _visit_ _you_ _and_ _your_ _beautiful_ _island_ _this_ _month_ _._   

_But, I promise I_ _will_ _make_ _it_ _up to_ _you_ _._   

_I_ _hope_ _you_ _are_ _going_ _to_ _appreciate_ _my_ _surprise._   

_I_ _am_ _really_ _looking_ _forward_ _to_ _see_ _you_ _again_ _._   

  

_Your_ _humble admirer,_   

_Hashirama_ _._   

   

There was no ring, but his verbal promise was everything she needed.  

  

 

  

And then came that fateful night.  

  
 


	2. The Lady - II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After all this time  
> the second chapter  
> This is still in Mito's flashback but soon we'll catch the story. Enjoy!

#  **The Lady - II**

 

 

 

 _Dear_ _Mito,_   

 _I_ _won't_ _be_ _able to_ _visit_ _you_ _and_ _your_ _beautiful_ _island_ _this_ _month_ _._   

 _But, I promise I_ _will_ _make_ _it_ _up to_ _you_ _._   

 _I_ _hope_ _you_ _are_ _going_ _to_ _appreciate_ _my_ _surprise._   

 _I_ _am_ _really_ _looking_ _forward_ _to_ _see_ _you_ _again_ _._   

  

 _Your_ _humble admirer,_   

 _Hashirama_ _._   

   

_There was no ring, but his verbal promise was everything she needed._

_And then came that fateful night._  

 

 

  

* * *

 

 

Mito saw the lightning, coming from very, very far away – maybe from the Lands itself – and seconds later she heard the thunder. She was watching the show from her room, her windows were wide opened and she knew very well that she was doing a bad, bad thing but who cared? She was going to get married in a week, married to the man she loved above all things, and that man loved her back just as much, and life was wonderful.  

 

She didn't care to listen to her mother's tiny voice inside her head, telling her what she was doing was dangerous, but the memories still found their way to her mind and, almost mechanically she touched the small locket she was now always wearing, closing her eyes, picturing what was left of her mother joyful face. The hate was long gone, replace by love, love for Hashirama and for her new life. There wasn't any place left in her heart for regret or sorrow.  

 

When she opened her eye again, she saw the mast falling on Tobirama's leg. The white haired man cried, calling for his brother but nobody came.  

 

Mito blinked, the sudden change of scenery taking her completely by surprise. Maybe she had fallen asleep, and was dreaming. This had been a long day, preparing the wedding took her a lots of energy and she was certainly just hallucinating. It couldn't be another vision, because it usually didn't feel the same.  

 

Everything felt so real. Her clothes were soaked, she was shivering from the cold and oh god her arm was killing her! She automatically touched her shoulder with her valid hand and felt something warm pouring down a small whole in her flesh...it was unbelievable.  

 

Someone had shot her!  

 

She wanted to scream, she wanted to vomit, she wanted to run away, to do anything but just being here. But instead of listening to her own head her body started to move without her consent, running toward the white haired man lying unconscious under the large wooden mast. With a force she would have never imagined to possess she took him out of his prison, slapping his cheeks to wake him up, with no success. His left leg looked like a piece of meat. They'd have to cut it out.  

  

"You need to leave now!" She heard a masculine voice talking, but couldn't really figure out where it was coming from. Everything outside was dark, dark and dangerous. She couldn't see anything but chaos enlightened by the lighting, smelt anything but blood, heard anything but screams and despair. This was the worst nightmare she had ever made, and she would remember it for the rest of her life.  

  

"You need to wake up!"  

  

But she knew that! There wasn't anyone who wanted to get out of here more than herself! And she was really trying, trying hard. She thought about her wedding dress, the wedding cake, thought about her future husband and their future kids, maybe this would make the chaos ended.  

 

Speaking of which, there came Hashirama, rescuing his little brother.  

 

He really looked awful. There was half dried blood on his face – thank god it wasn't his own – and for the first time of her life she saw him weak, livid, like if he wasn't in control anymore. She thought about his last letter, where he wrote that everything was going to be okay for them, that there wasn't anything that could possibly happened anymore now that he knew what he really wanted.  

 

He looked at her, and she felt like he was about to cry. That…that wasn't him, was it? He…he would never…  

  

"Where is he!?" he shouted. His voice was pleading, aching to know, but what exactly? She couldn't understand, why was he asking her all of the people?  

 

Why was she even there anyway?  

 

Where the fuck was she?  

  

"You're on our boat and you need to get away! You'll die too if you stay within me!"  

  

She recognized the voice, at last.  

  

"Izuna!"  

  

And she recognized the second voice too. It was Izuna's older brother's voice.  

  

"Drop the locket!"  

  

She didn't understand anything that was happening. Hashirama had turned into stone as soon as the fourth man had set a foot on the now sinking boat, Tobirama was still unconscious in his arms and she felt her legs shaking. The boat was dangerously getting closer to the Ocean surface and at any moment she knew they could all die. They needed to get out. Hashirama needed to get back alive. They were going to get married in a week. Why wasn't he…?  

  

There was another lighting, and then a giant wave. It took her away from her lover. Surrounded by nothing but cold water she heard Izuna's name being screamed again, and then someone jumped into the dark water to save her. Was it Hashirama? She hoped so. Because she couldn't die now, right? She was getting married in a week. He was going to save her. She was sure of that.  

  

"I am sorry. I couldn't keep my promise."  

  

Izuna's voice again was ringing in her ears, and as she looked at the dark hair floating around her head she finally understood. Somehow she was with him, two souls in the same body, living the exact same moment.  

  

They were missing air. Even if she wasn’t' in her own body she could feel the pain. The one throbbing in her arm, the salty water burning her eyes, and the cold liquid slowly filling her lungs. For sure that was the most painful things she had ever experienced in her short life. Drowning. She was glad her mother was already dead when they put her on her last embarkation.  

  

Just as her head was feeling dizzy and that she knew she was about to lost consciousness, never to wake up again, she thought she saw her silhouette hiding in the deepth of the Ocean. _Wait_ , she thought, _I'm coming, mo_ _m._ She almost felt her gaze fixed on her, even if her eyes were now closed, when something hit her cheek with such a force that it made her regain consciousness, for a short time.  

 

In front of her was Izuna's smiling face.  

  

"Never ever lost hope." she heard him said clearly, as he was holding her head in his tiny hands and then, the pain on her cheek was back, and when she opened her eyes again she was in her room, the windows still opened and her father was slapping her.  

  

"You…are okay?" he asked her, breathless. "Your lips were blue. I thought you had stopped breathing. Thank the Goddness you're alright."  

  

He held her close, stroking her back, but there was nothing he could do to stop the tears from falling. Even if all of this had looked unreal, she knew that somehow, it had really happened, far away from here where the storm was; she knew that Izuna was dead, that Tobirama would probably die too and that, Hashirama hadn't been able to prevent any of it.  

  

Mito felt asleep in her father's arms, all her strength having left her during her trance. The next day she pretended to be sick, stayed in bed and pray for Hashirama to still be alive. She wanted to know, so much, but it would take at least two days for the news to reach them. She had always been very patient, but when Hashirama's life was on the line that was en entire other story. She had already lost what was the closest to a friend to her, she wouldn't handle the loss of her lover. She just knew she couldn't.  

 

And then, there was a lighting, in her head. The locket. Maybe…maybe it could work again. Unfortunately it was nowhere to be found.  

  

"Apparently the clasp broke last night." Told her Old granny when she had asked her. "Your father is trying to fix it, but it was so old. I'm sorry but I think you would never be able to wear it again. I know how dear it is for you…"  

  

"No, it's okay." She said, not looking in her direction. The old woman probably thought she looked sad because it was the last reminder of her lost mother. How wrong people could be when they didn't know anything about what's running through your mind.  

 

It was so easy to misunderstand people behavior.  

 

It was so easy to lie to other human beings, even the one that were close to you. So easy. It didn't even take her so much effort.  

 

The day after, she pretended that everything was alright. She smiled to everybody, went to the prayer chamber, had a meal with her father. Life was back to normal for everybody but for her, it was as if time had frozen her whole life. Now, all she had to do was to wait. Every single minute felt like an eternity, her chest was desperately looking for any clues from the outside world; and when the first visitors entered the hall the following day she found herself torn. What if the news were bad? What if they have all followed Izuna into the depth of the Ocean?  

 

Paradoxically, she had avoided the hall that day.  

  

But it didn't prevent her ears from catching one or two small sentences. News from the Uchiha clan. They did all die. Except one, they said. Everybody was looking at her with a dark eye.  

  

The Senju had started the fight, the clan of her future husband, and now everybody was looking at her as if she was one of them, as if she was a traitor. As if she had killed them with her own hands.  

  

She had no option but to hide in her room, mourning her friend, her lover maybe, and her old life when everything had been so easy and joyful. She came out only past midnight, when she was sure nobody would be seeing her and murdering her with their glares. She went directly to the kitchen – she hadn't eaten at all that day – and was relieved to see a cold plate waiting for her. The orange on the corner told her it was from Old granny. She smiled, and ate in silence. The meal she had prepared for her even if it felt cold down on throat somehow managed to warm her up a little. She wasn't feeling totally alone, in a way. Lost in her gilded cage, alone in the cold air of the Sanctuary, lonely, as she had always be before they came into her life. Everybody was leaving her behind.  

  

When she was about the head back to her room she heard someone whispering. She easily recognized Old granny's voice – it was rather low and raucously, not something you could mistake – but there was a second voice too, which she had never heard. Curious as she was, she forgot about her fear and changed her mind, walking very carefully to the source of the voices.  

 

They were inside the prayer chamber. The door wasn't properly locked. She could see the old granny's back facing her and a silhouette, the one of a middle aged woman. She had long, very long and silky dark hair, done in a very sophisticated way – she had a lot of golden hairgrip and a high bun – and a greyish yukata.  

  

“I was ready to lose one of my sons today...but...not Izuna...he was so young...”  

  

“Ketaba, you should rest.”  

  

“But she told me she was going to take one back when he would turn 18!”  

  

The voice of the intruder got louder and Mito thought a second that she had been caught. Without thinking properly she ran away, hitting the wall with her elbow and she cried in pain unconsciously. She couldn't even wish not to have been heard, the old granny was old but not deaf, and the younger lady with her, who happened to be Izuna's _mother,_ had certainly very good ears, not damaged by the weight of the years.  

  

His mother was here and Mito had been the one sharing his last moment with him, and she couldn't do anything but run. She hated herself for being such a coward.  

  

Later, when she finally reached her bed, her stomach full and her heartbeat returned to his normal and slow pace, she decided that, from that night she would be a better person. That, she couldn't just hide in her room, waiting for people to stop looking at her as if she was a monster. She wasn't a Senju, she had nothing to do with that war to start with and Hashirama hadn't either. She was going to be a good woman, a good wife, a good person that nobody could ever blame for anything. Especially not for Izuna's death. But all her strong resolve was crushed by the presence of one, single and imposing man.  

  

Butsuma Senju. Father of Hashirama, leader of the Senju clan, and ex father-in-law.  

  

The wedding was canceled. Hashirama had mysteriously _'disappeared'_.  

  

 

* * *

 

  

 _My lovely singing robin,_   

 _Tobirama_ _is being annoying, like always, and it seems I can't wri_ _te anything private without him lurking above my shoulder!_   

 _But all I can say is that I really can't wait for next week to arrive. I hope you're as much excited as I am._   

 _We have to make a little detour to that Island I told you about - Don't ever go there,_ _never – and then we will probably headed to the Lands._   

 _Just a few days and we'll be together forever. I love you._   

 _Truly yours,_   

 _Hashirama_ _._   

  

“This is badly written because of me.” Tobirama told her when she had finished reading. It was the last letter he had left her before disappearing. “I was watching him write and he was feeling...shy, I guess. He was such a dork. Only talking about you and peace.” He didn't mean to be rude but still, his words were harsh and cold. She had learned to know him, to tame his temper, and she knew what was hiding underneath his fake anger. Tobirama Senju was a warrior, and as every warrior he had his pride, and as every Senju – Hashirama included – his pride was something that shouldn't be underestimated. Unfortunately, he wouldn't be able to walk again, nor to fight. His leg was ruined, but she already knew that. It wasn't hard though to pretend to be surprised.  

 

Tobirama had hated her as much as he had hated his brother naive dream to stop the war. And now that he was gone he didn't really know what to hate. As devastated as she was he couldn't redirect it on her and she knew that, that's why he was just blaming the ones that weren't there anymore. It was easier.  

  

“You really have no idea of where he could have gone?” Mito asked him after a pause. At least, he had survived the battle - what a relief.  

  

“He left no trace behind him. All his personal belongings are still in his room, at the exact same place. We thought he went back here, to see you, after what happened...” His voice turned into a whisper, as if the words themselves were too painful to be properly pronounced. Mito was there too, she understood him. It had only been an instant, no more than five minutes at the most, but her presence in the battlefield was the truly worst moment she had ever experienced in her whole life.  

  

“Mito, there is another reason why we're here.” His tone was drastically serious, he had regained his composure in a ridiculously short amount of time, and Mito wondered if it was the result of his monstrous pride or his admirable mental strength. Maybe it was a mix of both.  

  

“Please have a sit. This isn't going to be very pleasant to hear.”  

  

She cried and collapsed once he was finished.  

 

Dead. He was going to be declared _dead_.  

 

Tobirama's pride was nothing next to his father's. He would rather have his son dead in the last battle than to have him 'missing' or 'deserting'.  

  

 _A_ _Senju_ _who wasn't fighting on a battlefield was a dead_ _Senju_ _-_ A very famous Senju saying.  

  

“Our father is going to announce it very soon, in front of everybody. I just wanted you to be informed. So you can cope with it. He doesn't like you that much.”  

  

She smirked. “I already know that. You didn't like me much either when we first met.”  

  

“Hashirama can be very persuasive when he wants to.” He told her, leaving her behind.  

  

“It seems he didn't try enough with your father.”  

  

“He didn't try at all. He knew he was a lost cause. For Hashirama, our father, our clan, the war...everything was a lost cause. You were his only hope for the future. That's why I can't believe he disappeared just like that, without a little word for you. It's definitely not something he would have done.”  

  

“What do you mean by that?”  

  

But Mito got no reply. Tobirama was gone. The mystery stayed behind him.  

  

* * *

 

  

“I hate you. I despite you. You can say whatever you want about pride and honor, but I don't care. I will never care about those stupid and worthless values of yours. I care for life, for happiness, for joy and love. I care for Hashirama and I know he isn't dead as you desperately want him to be. I am a woman, a lady, and I am Hashirama's wife. You have just taken away what was the most dear to me, and you can be sure I will never forgive you for that. I will make sure the Ocean never gives you respite. I will make sure your ships sink six feet under the surface of water. I will make sure your death will be as painful as Izuna's. You will drown, alone, and I will watch you pray in vain for your honor and pride to save you from the cruelty of the Ocean. Never come back here, Butsuma Senju, and go fuck yourself.”  

  

She left the meeting room in a stunned silence. She never saw her father-in-law again.  

  

From that time, people started to treat her with more respect.  

  

And then, day, weeks, years passed...  

  

* * *

 

  

“It's been three years.”  

  

“I know that.”  

  

“You can't keep crying on a dead man. I won't tolerate that. I...I can't handle seeing you this miserable. Choose anyone you want.” Her father was desperate to find her a husband again. She was 18, and true it was old to get married, at least in the Islands but Mito still felt rather young herself. She wasn't ready.  

  

She read his last letter, again and again. She couldn't move on, because of that stupid, half written letter, as if it couldn't be it, it couldn't be his last words to her.  

  

 _Just a few days and we'll be together forever. I love you._   

 _Truly yours,_   

 _Hashirama_ _._   

  

'And we will be together forever'  

  

“You're still very pale, Lady Mito.” The parchment delivery man put a large case full of blank scrolls and opened it. He helped her dragging everything inside and she offered him a cup of tea.  

  

“Are you planning a big transcription? You've never ordered so many scrolls in the past.”  

  

“I need to distract myself.” She simply told him. “The days are long here on the island, with nothing else to do but pray and ink. So I guess I could start drawing. You know, having...fun.”  

  

“Ah! I wish I could be able to have fun once in a while. But, you know how work is. I don't have a minute to take care of my poor self.”  

  

“Why are you taking the time to have a cup of tea with me if you don't have a minute to waste?”  

  

“How could I refuse such an invitation when it came from a beautiful lady like you?”  

  

She tried – in vain – to hide her blush with her cup, holding it with her two hands, but the damages were already done.  

  

“If you ever have some time to waste again, you can come here, anytime you want.” She told him one day, as he was delivering her last order – different colors of ink, blue white and green. Their toes were filled with hot sand and the silence that followed her proposal somehow felt comfortable, at least for Mito, and that only fact was a small miracle.  

  

He nodded and then came back months later. He never really left after that.  

  

* * *

 

  

The swirly wind only partially calmed her nerves as she threw up for the first time this week. She was late, awfully late, and she always bled the second day of the week. She was regular like clockwork, well, at least she used to.  

 

There was only one, stupid and unexpected possibility that could explain all her symptoms.  

 

She was pregnant.  

 

She was going to be a mother.  

 

And there wasn't anything that could scare her most than that. Even the painful vision of Izuna's death and the drowning experience had been nothing next to the unknown human being starting to get his own place inside her belly. It wasn't as if she couldn't have seen it coming, it was only the natural evolution of life – you were born, you grew up, you bled, you got married, you got pregnant, you raised your kids, you died and came back to the Ocean – and things were going nicely with her husband. She wasn't extraordinary happy like she thought she could have been with Hashirama, but she wasn't feeling miserable either. They were comfortable with each other, not talking much but living together in perfect harmony.  

 

She should feel happy then, shouldn't she?  

 

She was going to have a child with her husband. She loved him. She wanted it to happen someday, eventually. So what was the pain his her chest doing here?  

 

She didn't feel ready at all. Anxiety was climbing to her throat and she threw up again.  

 

What was she supposed to do?  

 

She knew nothing about pregnancy. Things you're supposed to do, things you had to avoid, activities you need to stop, meals you couldn't eat anymore…she knew she shouldn't drink red wine but, was that the only restriction?  

 

How funny, she was going to fail her child even before he – or she – was born. Deformed and unable, or sick, or even a stillborn baby coming out of her was the only thing that was awaiting her. Or worse, she could have a miscarriage. Was she even worthy enough to give birth?  

 

She sat down a moment to catch her breath and thought about her future. Maybe giving birth wasn't what was terrifying her the most. She had read so many books, and knew how everything was supposed to happen, how long painful it could be.  

 

But what about the aftermath?  

 

She had absolutely no idea of how to raise a child.  

 

When she thought about her childhood she only had indications of what she really didn't want to do but she still had absolutely no idea of what was the right thing to do. With a mother like her, even before being born, this child's life was certain of being a failure. She sought for help. She needed to voice her despair, and to find just an ear to listen to her fears. But she found none. Or she didn't want to find one here.  

 

Old granny was a gossip, she couldn't keep a secret for her own good. She had no friend at the sanctuary that she felt close enough to dismay her misfortune, and her husband? That was out of the question. She could already pictures his joyful reaction, and his enthusiasm would contrast too much with her worries and she would feel like a bad wife, on top of being a bad mother.  

 

She wanted to talk to her mom. She had never missed her so much.  

 

And so, she ended up in the prayer chamber. And she prayed, for someone to hear her despair, for the Ocean to send her a message, just a single glimpse of an answer, so that she would know what she was supposed to do.  

  

 

.  

  

Later this day, a black haired man entered the Sanctuary walls.  

And then, a servant gave her a five years old letter to read.  

It had Hashiramas handwriting.  

As soon as she touched the old parchment everything went blank.  

 

 

  
 

 


	3. III

_Later this day, a black haired man entered the Sanctuary walls._

_And then, a servant gave her a five years old letter to read._

_It had Hashiramas handwriting._

_As soon as she touched the old parchment everything went blank._

 

* * *

# The Lady - III

.

 

When Mito opened her eyes again all she could look at was a dark-gray wall. She had never seen that kind of colour on the Island. She felt extremely tired but tried to get up anyway. She couldn't; her wrist was locked to the wall, the chain restraining her movement. There was a window on the right. The sky was blue, with absolutely no trace of clouds, or lands, or water. Wherever she was might be a high place, a top of a hill or in a tower, she couldn't tell from where she was. If only she could just get closer to the window…  

 

She went on all four and tried to go forward but then she saw her hands… _his hands_ …the hands she had loved so much. The ones she had missed so much.  

 

It was the same thing again. She was inside a body, just like Izuna, she was with Hashirama.  

 

Was she dreaming? Or was he alive? After all these years?  

 

"Hey, I told you to sleep, stupid cousin."  

  

She heard a female low voice talking from behind her. When she turned around she saw that large and green wooden door. The owner of the voice was nowhere to be seen, but Mito then heard her bumped the door with her fist.  

  

"Hey, Hashirama, are you sleeping?"  

  

Her heart skipped a beat as she heard her old lover's name. It wasn't a dream, she was now so sure of that, Hashirama was alive. She wanted to cry. She forgot an instant that she was lost and pregnant and married and just sat on the straw, and cried of happiness.  

  

"You'd better be awake when your father arrives. I don't want him to kill you in your sleep because of me."  

  

Her tears stopped instantaneously. There were creepy cries of big black birds coming from outside and the atmosphere all of a sudden felt deadly serious. Mito closed her eyes and tried to concentrate: she wasn't the one who felt tired, Hashirama was. He was weak and tired, his wrist was probably broken, his hair was so long and forked…by adding these information with his current localization there wasn't a lot of option left for him. He was being made prisoner somewhere. And the Senjus were coming here to kill him for good.  

  

She had to get some more clues from the lady being the door. Who was she? One of Hashirama's cousin? He had only told her about Tobirama when it came to his family tree.  

  

She faked a yawn and started to make small talks. "And when is he going to be here?" she asked casually - it was rather weird to talk with Hashirama's voice.  

  

There was a moment of silence that shouldn't have been there in Mito's opinion and it made her regret her sudden burst of audacity.  

  

"Are you feeling okay? You're the one who got the message, remember?” Finally answered the voice. “Tobirama sent you a carrier pigeon. They should be half way now."  

  

"I see…" she whispered to herself, and suddenly it was with her own voice, and both women realized that fact at the exact same time. Mito's eyes widened, the door burst opened and a black haired woman appeared before her.  

  

"Who are you?" She asked in a threatening tone.  

  

She didn't have the opportunity to reply, when she woke up she was in her room, her husband stroking her hair lovingly. She turned her head toward him and tried to speak, but he hushed her with a kiss. He had the letter in his hand.  

  

"Did you see him?"  

  

She nodded.  

  

"You should go." He simply said, before kissing her forehead and held her in his arm while she was crying silently – she had no idea why, but the tears wouldn't stop.  

  

* * *

 

  

She stood in front of his room. Madara Uchiha. She would have never hoped of seeing Izuna's brother again. She read Hashirama's letter again.  

  

_To_ _my_ _only_ _dearly_ _beloved_ _…_   

  

She frowned. That was definitely not Hashirama's usual heading. There was something very different about it, as if it came from a different man. As if it came from the man she had seen, when she saw Izuna's died.  

 

What had happened to him? Why was he alone in such a bad shape? She was so worried.  

  

Maybe he knew something about it.  

  

"Please, don't go yet. Follow me"  

  

* * *

 

  

She finally managed to invite herself on his boat. What a difficult man. He was nothing like Izuna : he was cold, silent, angry…and now he was sleeping. Great. At least her stomach wasn't killing her anymore. She was really glad that the nausea was only assaulting her on mornings.  

 

What had gotten her…to go like this on a whim, in a stranger's embarkation and without a second thought? Deep down maybe she knew. She wanted to escape her reality, to get away from her future life. She wasn't ready for this, but in a way she had never been ready for anything that had happened to her. She hadn't been ready to meet Hashirama, or to lose her mother so young. She had not been ready to lose Hashirama either. And now everything was going so fast…She woke up this morning with nausea and now she was sailing in the middle of nowhere, looking for her lost husband, who was supposed to be dead. The situation was crazy, she was crazy, and the back haired man lying next to her probably was as well. For god sake he was taking her to Akatsuki Island! Was he planning to sell her to some traffickers? Or to get drunk and forget about her? She couldn't go there, she could get all kinds of diseases that could be bad for the baby…really, sometimes she wondered if she even had a single idea of what she was doing.  

 

Madara was right, she was an idiot. She was a bad wife, a bad lover, a bad mother, a bad human being.  

 

The man next to her shivered in his sleep and she quickly took off her shawl and gently put it on his torso. It was the least she could do after being so mean with him. Talking about Izuna like that, so frontally…of course he was still upset, he had tried to save him, he had jumped into the Ocean to save him and he had failed; how could anyone survived that sort of hardship without feeling guilt and sorrow? That's what must have changed him so much. The contrast with the _'Nii san'_ she had heard about was too intense. She hadn't seen him much, he had always been the silent and solitary one. It was like if he didn't have a childhood, or never wanted one.  

 

She wondered what had happened to him in his past to be so serious from the very start. But she couldn’t think for very long. Because…  

 

She needed to pee, very badly.  

 

She couldn't concentrate on anything. She needed to pee. Anything else was secondary.  

 

Humans were such fragile creatures. So much depending on their bladder.  

 

Right now her thoughts weren't focused on how to find Hashirama or how to raise her child but more on 'where the fuck am I going to pee in the middle of nowhere next to a perfect stranger', and she realized she could cope with this for a change. It was actually nice to have other things in mind for a second.  

 

Well, that's what she thought the first hour. When Madara finally woke up she was very close to losing her mind.  

 

When she was done, she chose to have a nap. Now that she had started so much to his perfectly shaped torso she wasn't sure that she could safely looked at him in the eyes without feeling shameful. She'd better disappeared for a short moment and letting his temper got down. Madara was just like the Ocean. She just needed to wait for the end of the storm, and everything would eventually get back to normal.  

  

* * *

 

  

When she woke up her eyes only found the fog. Maybe it was some mystical charms against the authorities, for the Island to stay hidden from everyone's eyes, unless you knew exactly where the Island was…she had seen that kind of sorcery in a book she had read when she was younger. If she remembered correctly the book said it was called Genjutsu.  

 

She followed her guide and her thin ballerina tread upon the old wooden pier. Half of it was broken or rotten and she almost tripped twice before they reached the real road. Or what was supposed to be the road.  

 

The houses were crumbling and dirty on the outside. And the smell…what kind of smell was that? It was strong and…oh it reminded her of something she had smelt this morning. Oh yeah, vomit. Anything she wasn't expecting though. People got here to get drunk, didn't they?  

 

When the fog started to disappear she felt Madara's arms holding her closer. She was glad he did – such a gentleman – because she would have stopped walking and maybe collapsed if he hadn't.  

 

Mito had never left the Island. She had only lived within the Sanctuary walls. She had only seen other habitations in books, books that came from the Lands, full of luxurious houses and wealthy people. She wasn't ready to witness…what was on Akatsuki Island. The Sin Island, as Hashirama called it.  

 

"Make sure to stay close to me."

He didn't have to tell her twice, she was literally stuck to his side, avoiding looking around her. Even the ground was disgusting, full of garbage and the people here…she was scared, really scared.  

 

She wanted nothing more but to forget what she had seen before entering the bar. Surprisingly it wasn't as terrible as she would have thought. Everything was neat and tidy. There was a man, dressed very elegantly with a three piece suit – he got a dark eye patched, of course, it was a pirates' Island – with white hair, waxed backwards who was doing the dishes. On the corner of her eyes she also saw a woman, with short blue hair – how strange – and a sweet flower behind her ear. She looked so different from the other ones they have crossed in the streets. That one was shooting death glares towards them. She looked at Madara, questioning him with her eyes, but she got no answer. She'd tried later, she was curious but patient.  

 

She stayed silent and watched the interaction between Madara and his…friends. She didn't know if they really were but the way they were talking to each other was very familiar and comfortable. Madara gave the scary man some of her husband's coins and the thought of him made her sad for a moment.  

 

She was really doing the right thing for them?  

 

He had let her go, knowing perfectly what she had been through, without questioning her but, she was betraying him, wasn't she?  

 

Because all her worries vanished at a single mention of Hashirama's name.  

 

And there she was, sitting in front of a red haired man and a bottle of strong liquor, alone. His name was Sasori. Apparently he just came back from the Lands. He was a puppet-master, from a very famous troupe, and travelled a lot from town to town. She was surprised that he also came in Uzushio once. She couldn't remember, she would have loved to see his show. He told her she wasn't probably even born and she frowned: the man didn't look very much older than her.  

  

Things on the Lands weren't looking good.  

  

"The war is over, but the misery is still there." Sasori told her, after Konan – the blue-haired girl, one of Madara's one night conquest – offered them some drinks, that she politely declined. "Some towns even looked worse than this Island. Children are starving, wearing the same clothes for weeks, there isn't enough water for everyone. Some adults are scarifying themselves, but ended up drinking the water of the Ocean. They staggered and felt, dozens of them, on rocky beaches, and never got up. There are corpses everywhere, and people get sick. Entire small villages had been eradicated by the aftermath of the conflicts."  

  

"Why aren't the Lands helping their people?" asked Mito, astonished by such devastating news.  

  

"Lady, you have no idea of how the Lands look like right now. Do you have a map?"  

  

Mito took hers off her bag and spread it on the sticky table – someone must have spilled his drink before – the Lands oriented towards the puppet-master.  

  

"I see. This is a map of the Ocean, not of the Lands. Compared to the Lands, your Island is just a small spot, a mere grain of sand lost in the vastness of a beach." He took a pencil and a piece of paper out of nowhere and started to draw another map. A very, different map.  

  

"…Are the Lands so big?" Mito whispered. The form he had just draw was even bigger than the Ocean. How could it be possible? Even in her books she had never realized it was that huge.  

  

"They are. There are some big cities on the coast, very wealthy town thanks to trade and harbour but most of the city – and the Capital – are inside the lands, near the forest and near the Tree. The rescue squads can't be everywhere at the same time. They are saving the rich and flourishing areas first, that's all."  

  

"How awful…" Everything was always so peaceful in the Sanctuary. She suddenly felt like a simpleton in front of such misery.  

  

"So, is that everything you want to know about the Lands, Milady?" He had finished his drink and asked Konan to have some more. The waitress came with a new bottle, and again insisted that Mito tasted the string liquor too. She declined again, and Konan frowned. She purred Sasori his drink and decided to sit with them, staring at her, without blinking. The Lady suddenly felt uncomfortable.  

  

"I…no." She breathed and found her resolve again. She needed to find Hashirama, no matter what. "I need information about the Kage Tower, and…about a man. Have you heard of Hashirama Senju during your trip?"  

  

Sasori's face remained impassive, but the waitress smirked at the mention of Hashirama's name. Did she know him? Why did she…oh, he wouldn't have…would he? No, he wasn't like Madara. He couldn't have-  

  

"The Kage Tower was known to be a prison built by the Hagoromo's clan centuries ago. It's a twenty meter tower, with absolutely no way to escape but a single window at the very top of it, so that the only exit you have is in death. It was used to imprison strong enemies that couldn't be killed but were too dangerous to stay in usual prison. It was also used as a mean of torture; leaving the prisoner with only two options: to talk or die."  

  

What a horrible place…just like what she had seen, when she had possessed Hashirama. What was he still doing here? The war was over, what could they possibly want from him?  

  

"I thought the place was closed now, because of the green trees." Said Konan nonchalantly.  

  

Mito turned her head towards the waitress, who was looking blankly at the map, playing with her empty glass. "Green Trees?"  

  

"I didn't have the chance to see them, but it seemed it's indeed true." Sasori took a slip and put his glass soundlessly at the exact same place. "The tower is surrounded by 10 meters trees, all green, from the roots to the top leaves. Nobody saw them growing, one day the ground was neat and the following day the trees were there. It's a complete mystery."  

  

It had something to do with Hashirama. That was the only solution. Mito had been looking for answers but the more her contact talked, the more questions came to her mind.  

  

"Hashirama…Hashirama…that name sounds familiar. But I can't remember where I..." Konan said to herself, her head visibly in the clouds. They both looked at her before she slapped back to reality. "Oh, it's nothing. Forget about it." She said as she stood up and joined Hidan behind the counter. The red heads looked as her slender silhouette left them to greet Madara and Kakuzu who were coming down from their personal meeting.  

  

"Actually I heard about your Hashirama a lot; well I guess it was him they were talking about." Added Sasori out of the blue, and immediately Mito's eyes changed their focus from the fuming omelet – she was so hungry – to the puppet-master. "Five years ago I was on tour with my parents, and we were playing at the very centre of the Lands near the Forest. There were some priests, from the Senju clan, who would always have a little chat with us at the end of a representation. It's nothing much really, but apparently they were pretty upset with one of their leaders. They said he was asking too many questions about the Tree, about the 'Legends' surrounded It, and kept wandering suspiciously near the Forest. When we came back a year later, my parents asked about this man again, and they said that the problem had been ' _taken_ _care of_ ', with a forced smile."  

  

"You mean…" Mito eyes widened, but then remembered Hashirama couldn't be dead. She had seen him. Or did she?  

 

What if she had travelled through time? What if she had a vision of the past?  

 

There weren't any trees in her vision. And there was someone with him. A woman. The place hadn't been deserted.  

 

Maybe…Madara had been right, maybe Hashirama was already dead, alone and famished at the very top of the Kage Tower.  

 

"That's not all." He continued before Mito could think too much about it. "There was a rumour, that didn't spread very much because of her very high probability of being fake, and of the deadly impact it could have on the Lands. It came from a very old man of the Hagoromo clan, who was in charge of the forest that belongs to his clan. One day, as he was picking up the fruits and vegetable just behind the Tree and tearing the weeds, he looked up, and It was gone."  

  

"What was gone?"  

  

"The Fruit."  

  

"Oh…you…you mean…What ?!"  

  

The Fruit had gone missing. The very reason why the war started in the first place had disappeared.  

  

"What…what happened?" Mito asked, completely stunned. That was unimaginable. How could they have continued the war when the Fruit was gone?  

  

"Nobody knows. The old man was found dead soon after his little story leaked. And nobody is allowed to get near the Tree, so nobody checked. But that's just a rumour."  

  

They stayed silent for a moment; Sasori silently finishing his drink and Mito, lost in her thoughts. Suddenly Sasori stood up and looked for something in his pocket.  

  

"Tomorrow, 7 AM, the big ship with the red cloud painted on the hull. Take this with you, and tell them you are my guest. They shouldn't bother you much if you do." Sasori gave her a small ring and left the table.  

 

She looked at the tiny object a minute, trying it on her ring finger. It was too large for her.  

 

There was a white trace where her engagement ring should be. Her eyes widened. How could she have forgotten about it? She must have left it on her night table, that was the only explanation. What else could it be?  

 

A serendipitous mistake?  

 

Was her mind that fucked up about Hashirama's return?  

 

What kind of woman was she? What kind of woman did she want to be in the end?  

 

She angrily put the ring on her bag and sat next to Madara, eating half of his omelette. She was too hungry to think properly anyway – stomach, bladder, all the same, humans were weak in front of the call of Nature.  

 

The fisherman left them early – not really surprising, considering how drunk he was – and Mito wanted to leave too, but Konan forced her to have a sit with them, and started to ask…personal questions.  

 

"Did you two have sex already?" She whispered to her ears, so loudly that everybody around them could have heard if they were paying enough attention. Her tone wasn't as angry as it might have been considering their mutual past; she sounded more curious than anything.  

  

"No…No! Why did you…did he do that often?" She asked, turning her head to Kakuzu – from the three people around her he seemed to know him the most.  

  

"If by ' _that_ _'_ you mean having sex with random strangers on boats, then the answer is yes." Answered Hidan as he was washing his glasses – he looked rather maniac about those. The three of them smirked, as if it was some kind of private joke she wasn't catching at all.  

  

"Hidan it's not very nice to say those things to such fragile ears. She is so pure that she didn't even drink alcohol. She probably has never done ' _that_ ' before." Said Konan as she covered her poor not so innocent ears. The waitress looked at Kakuzu with a questioning glare. "Should we…tell her about… _it_?"  

  

"We totally should." Both waitresses looked like children who couldn't keep a secret and Kakuzu just cupped his chin, the alcohol in his veins talking for him it seemed, because when he nodded the two rascals seemed surprised and happy at the same time.  

  

"His first time was on a boat." Started Konan, who looked rather excited about the whole story.  

  

"He was only fifteen." Quickly added Hidan.  

  

"It was with a complete stranger."  

  

"A man?" asked Mito.  

  

"Of course!"  

  

"I knew he was gay."  

  

"Looks like the Lady has some flair." Complimented her Hidan.  

  

"Anyway, he only told us about it once, and he was completely drunk. He didn't remember his name but the way he talked about it…it sounded like he just had the revelation of his life."  

  

"But as soon as he was sober, he denied everything he had said."  

  

"And started to bang random women."  

  

"Konan, watch your mouth, we're in front of a Lady." Kakuzu low voice reprimanded his employer. Mito was just thrilled. It seemed that wherever they came from people were just as fond of gossip as in the islands. "And he also hit on men. Well, more like men hit on him and he didn't say no."  

  

"Did you-" whispered Hidan to his man.  

  

"No, of course. And you?"  

  

"He has nice butt. But he is not my type. Too much hairs."  

  

Mito found herself laughing despite her. Sure she did feel absolutely out of place in here, but the atmosphere around her was warm and friendly. Even if they were different, those three visibly cared for Madara a lot, and the way they looked after each other was very close to what family was supposed to be for her.  

  

"Anyway, we've been looking for this man, a lot."  

  

"Or whatever drugs he took during this trip."  

  

"Why are you always saying that he was high Hidan? It was true love! I tell ya!"  

  

"True love or not, your first time can't be that great. Do you remember our first time honey?"  

  

"Don't talk about it please. A real catastrophe."  

  

"See? And we're soul mates."  

  

“Hopefully we found olive oil after that.”  

  

And they laughed, during half of the night, before finally Mito yawned more than talked and she decided to go to bed. Konan showed her where she would rest tonight, the room right next to Madara's, and smiled kindly to her. She told him they had been very worried about him since Izuna's death. They haven't seen him in a whole year and now that they knew he had made a friend, they were finally reassured. Mito tried to protest, to tell her that they weren't even close to be friends, that she had only known him for a single day but the blue haired woman had closed the door behind her.  

  

* * *

 

  

What an idiot.  

 

What a stupid and brainless girl she was.  

 

Why did she have to take that bottle with her?  

 

It had been there all along, just in front of her, and this morning when she was saying her last goodbyes to the bar's team before going to Madara's room, her eyes finally saw what it really was. It was _the_ bottle. The exact same bottle where Madara had found Hashirama's letter. And all of a sudden she thought that it was a vital item. Why on earth did she have to be so stupid to steal an empty bottle?  

 

She had been shot, she had been lifted in the air, soaked by the rain, her voice was hoarse because of her desperate cries and now Madara might even be dead; and all of that because of a stupid girl who couldn't take her hands off of something that reminded her of Hashirama.  

 

Because of her, and her alone.  

 

She had never seen so much blood. She was afraid to look, maybe it had opened his skull and his brain was leaking – she was about to throw up again – but the bleeding needed to be stopped, that was the only thing she could possibly think of right now. It helped to have read so many books in her childhood.  

 

She took her shawl and wrapped it strongly around the injury, and when the bleeding finally stopped to colour the green fabric in brown, she did her best to stabilize their boat. The strong wind was messing with the sail, and before she could do anything the mast broke into two. The boat was going in every direction, following the swirly storm randomly in an incredibly high speed. She was so scared, she wanted to cry but somehow her body froze. She was just looking at the waves around them, paralyzed by fear and something she couldn't really describe, as if somehow she knew it was the end and that she couldn't do anything to stop their inevitable deaths.  

 

Stupor. That was the word she was looking for. She was in a state of stupor. It was as if her mind had been disconnected from her body, as if she was having a vision and was possessing someone but it was her.  

 

So she just took Madara's head in her lap, and held the mast – or what was remaining of the mast – with her fragile arms as hard as she could, and prayed.  

 

She closed her eyes, and when she felt the boat behind turned upside down, she screamed.  

 

She might have lost consciousness for a brief moment. Or maybe for hours, she couldn't tell. When Mito opened her eyes again there were no clouds in the sky. No rain, no winds, no storm, but just the bright blue sky above their head and Madara lying unconscious beside her. She put her hand on his chest. It was moving. He was still alive. And she was still alive.  

 

Suddenly her stomach felt like it was smashed against a rock and she threw up. It was the same sensation from when she was bleeding, but this time worse, and then she realized that maybe not everybody made it through the storm.  

 

What an idiot. What a stupid mother, stupid enough to kill her child for some old love story.  

 

She couldn't hate herself more than at that very moment.  

 

Madara took her out of her reverie. He moved, slightly, without waking up but he indeed moved. That meant his brain wasn't seriously damage. What a relief…she was glad to be with him. Sure it was always better not to be alone for those kinds of trips but she really appreciated him. At first, the man Izuna had described her countless times was difficult to see, but little by little, glimpse after glimpse, she learned how to read between the lines of his behaviour and to appreciate his extraordinary cocky sense of humour.  

 

She really had a moment of hesitation, before Kakuzu tried to shot her, when she came up to his room to say her last goodbyes. She had known from the very beginning that the conversation would end up this way, with him guessing what was hidden in her heart and refusing her proposal. It was strange, an unexpected, but when she turned around at the doorstep she knew she wouldn't make it without him.  

 

And now thanks to that stupid Rhum bottle he was still with her.  

 

But her child probably paid for her selfishness.  

  

Mito leaned her back against the mast, and started to cry. Nobody knew she was pregnant. She could have a miscarriage and still save Hashirama, and when she would come back home nothing would be any different, because nobody would know. Nobody would get hurt, except for her, but she deserved the pain and gladly accepted it, as a punishment from the Ocean. It was only normal for her to be punished for being so stupid and for her wrong behaviour.  

 

Madara was slowing but surely waking up.  

 

Was it the same for him?  

 

Was he punishing himself on purpose, staying always alone and miserable on his boat, because he couldn't save Izuna?  

 

She dried her tears as soon as she saw him opening his eyes. It wasn't a proper time to think of the dead. She'd rather concentrate on the living for now.    
 

 

 


End file.
